A daring individual met a tragic end after attempting an unauthorized base jump from the edge of the Grand Canyon, as reported by the National Parks Service. The incident occurred at Yavapai Point on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, with the Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center receiving the report around 7:30 a.m. on a recent Thursday.
Upon arrival, park rangers discovered the man’s lifeless body 500 feet below the rim, next to a deployed parachute. The responders at Yavapai Point initiated the recovery process on the same day. The National Park Service Recovery teams successfully retrieved the body by helicopter on Friday morning.
The body was then transported to the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy to determine the cause of death. The identity of the deceased is currently withheld until a positive identification can be made.
BASE jumping, the high-risk activity the man was attempting, is an acronym for the four categories of fixed objects from which a person can jump: buildings, antennas, spans, and earth. Despite its thrill, BASE jumping is strictly forbidden in all areas of Grand Canyon National Park, a fact that park officials have reiterated in the wake of this incident.
This unfortunate event follows a similar incident that occurred the previous Wednesday, when a North Carolina man, Abel Joseph Mejia, 20, of Hickory, fell 400 feet to his death near a scenic area of the Grand Canyon’s South Rim. Park officials reported that Mejia’s fall was accidental and occurred when he was near the edge of the rim.
According to mortality data from the National Park Service, the Grand Canyon sees an average of 11 deaths each year. The National Parks Service has not released any additional information at this time.